


those damn pheromones

by cathedralhearts



Category: The Kissing Booth
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-05-17 04:58:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14825723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cathedralhearts/pseuds/cathedralhearts
Summary: She looks at her own stack, half the size, and sighs heavily-- again.She’s also applied for Tisch, and had been tossing up CalArts as her third choice. The other application sits there off to the side, thicker than the others and with a slight sense of dread about it.





	those damn pheromones

**Author's Note:**

  * For [badjujuboo (miztrezboo)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/miztrezboo/gifts).



> um, so i watched the movie on netflix last weekend and have proceeded to lose my goddamned mind. like, to the point of following fan accounts on insta and revamping my twitter. this is my first attempt of what will likely be more. (tbh i'm just happy i can actually still write???? the drought has been long and superbad)
> 
> for caz, who has made it through two fandoms and is likely to join me in a third now haha.

Elle sighs, leaning back in her chair. Her eyes are swimming and her back aches-- the next time she agreed to staying back after school with Lee to go over their college applications, she hopes that future-her will reach back in time and slap her in the face. This is _shit_.

 

“I think I’m going to die if I have to do one more essay,” she groans, turning side to side and wincing as bones crack.

 

“You’ve only done two. I’ve done _four._ ” Lee jabs a finger at his laptop, and the printouts next to him.

 

If she’s honest, she doesn’t know why Lee has gone to all the effort. His school of choice is NYU Tisch School for the Arts, with Rutgers, CalArts and Julliard as his unattainable Hail Mary. Elle’s of the opinion any of those schools would be stupid _not_ to take him, but hey. Crazier things have happened.

 

She looks at her own stack, half the size, and sighs heavily-- _again_.

 

She’s also applied for Tisch, and had been tossing up CalArts as her third choice. The other application sits there off to the side, thicker than the others and with a slight sense of dread about it.

 

 _Harvard_.

 

Her heart starts to beat faster, her thoughts uncontrollably turning to Noah.

 

It’s been eleven months since he boarded his flight to Boston, and she’d be lying if she said it hasn’t been hard. There’s been fights over Facetime, tears, a surprise visit on her birthday, and a very uncomfortable discussion about her applications.

 

She does alright in school, but she isn’t the most cerebral of individuals, and the idea of trying to make it work at Harvard gives her anxiety. She managed to find a Theatre course there, and they have a Div I women’s soccer team-- but the more pressing question was: _was she even Harvard material?_

 

The only reason Noah was there was because he got a full ride on a sports scholarship playing football for them. Elle had no scholarships lined up, but she was going to apply to the hilt, especially since she wasn’t going there for law or football. Her dad can’t handle the fees, especially not after her mom’s cancer treatments drained most of their life savings.

 

The idea of being hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt by the time she finishes makes her break into a cold sweat, though.

 

(She could totally make it work as a Legally Blonde situation, if she did decide to go for law.)

 

“I still think you should be going for UMass or something… over Harvard,” Lee interrupts her nervous fantasising. “Or what about USC?”

 

Her dad and brother will be left all alone if she escapes to the East Coast. Her dad has done an awesome job raising them both since her mom died, but still.

 

“I don’t know what I’m doing anymore,” she groans, rubbing her face again.

 

“Have you talked to Noah about maybe not going to Boston?” Lee asks, tapping his pencil against his pile of essays. Elle shoots him a look.

 

“I _tried_ and he freaked out. He doesn’t give a shit if it’s not Harvard, as long as it’s like… Boston or the greater Massachusetts area. Even New York if I’m really hard up for options. But if I stayed in California? Jeez.”

 

She shudders at the memory, of Noah and the look of torture on his face as she tried to float the possibility of staying home.

 

_“Elle, this year has been so shit. And all the good schools are on this coast, you know that. You’ve got the best opportunities here.”_

 

She missed him with every fiber of her being some days, and other days she could go most of it without even thinking about him. Joys of a long-distance relationship.

 

Her dad still wasn’t supportive; she supposed he never would be, which was another issue entirely. However, he hadn’t said boo about her choices when she’d shown him her shortlist.

 

“Harvard is an excellent school, bug.” He had said, looking over his newspaper. He hadn’t mentioned about Noah being there, and she knew he wouldn’t bring it up until she did.

 

“Well, if he wasn’t such an asshole, he’d be supportive of whatever your choice was,” Lee gripes, tapping his pen against the table. Elle jabs at him.

 

“He’s not an asshole, he just misses me. And wants the best for me. I just… I don’t know what that is right now.” She flops back into the uncomfortable library chair, huffing out enough of a breath it makes the essay papers rattle. “If this is what he felt like when he got into Harvard, I don’t blame him for wanting to take his time.”

 

Lee shrugs. He doesn’t talk about Noah much-- and everytime ‘Flynn’ is mentioned around the school, he seems to fold into himself. Even gone almost a year, Lee can’t seem to escape Noah’s shadow. Nobody can.

 

“If he’s strong enough, he’ll make it work with you, no matter where you go.” Lee turns back to his laptop and starts tapping away, frowning with concentration.

 

She turns back to her own laptop, glaring at her stack. College applications _suck_.

 

*

 

Her first letter comes from Tisch, which is an early binding offer-- she gets in. The pack is thick, filled with prospectuses and admissions paperwork and _holy shit she got into Tisch_.

 

Lee calls her as soon as she manages to sit down, legs shaking, arms shaking, _everything shaking_.

 

“Well?” he shrieks down the phone; all she can do is scream back.

 

*

 

CalArts reject her in early April, and then she’s just waiting on Harvard.

 

“I should’ve heard by now,” she groans at her screen, tucked up in bed. Her senior year is almost over-- Noah can’t come back for prom, which is shitty and makes her feel even more shitty, but it is what it is.

 

“A lot of the guys in my dorm didn’t hear back until--” Noah starts, and she flops around the bed.

  
“The end of April, I know,” she says, poking her head up to take in her boyfriend. He looks sleep rumpled, bags under his eyes, and he’s more propping himself up against his desk than anything.

 

“How’s football?” she asks, and he shrugs.

 

“Alright. I’m starting. The guys here are so good, I feel like I’m a freshman all over again,” he grumps, playing with his necklace. She laughs.

 

“Uh, that’s cos you kind of _are?_ ”

 

He rolls his eyes and leans in, biting his lip.

 

“I’m back home soon for summer break. Can’t wait to wake up next to you every morning,” he says, catching her off guard. It’s breathtakingly romantic, for _them_ anyway, and she giggles, hiding her face.

 

“So cheesy!” she yells, languishing in the sound of his laugh, tinny through the speakers.

 

*

 

Lee and Rachel break up a month before school ends.

 

It’s _horrible_.

 

All Elle can do is park herself in bed with him and watch reruns of Pretty in Pink and Archer on repeat.

 

He cries a lot.

 

Mopes a _lot_.

 

“At least you’re going to Tisch,” she offers one night, after watching him eat an entire pint of B&J’s Phish Food.

 

“She took an offer for New York,” he says, tossing the empty container off his bed.

 

“Um, New York is massive, dude. The chances of you running into her are slim to none,” Elle scoffs. It doesn’t seem to appease him at all.

 

“I’ll still have to know she’s in my city,” he grumps. Elle rolls her eyes.

 

“Have you got your--” he starts, and she punches his arm.

 

They agreed that she’d call him the second she got her letter, and would wait until he came over. She has a feeling she’s going to need him, regardless of what the result is.

 

*

 

Her Harvard letter shows up on the last day of school.

 

Her brother and dad are off seeing their aunt, leaving her alone, arriving to an empty house. She doesn’t mind-- it’s good for them to spend time together without her.

 

She opens the letterbox, grabbing the stack of mail without a second glance, and heads into the house, tossing it on the kitchen island.

 

She gets the OJ out the fridge and drinks from the carton, before her eye catches on the crimson logo peeking out from underneath a car magazine.

 

In a completely dignified and completely mature response-- she sprays her juice all over the kitchen, screaming and slipping on the mess, cracking her head on the floor.

 

“Fucking hell,” she groans, clutching her head. She pulls her hand away and there’s no blood, which is a plus. Just a bit more brain scrambling.

 

She crawls upwards, grabbing her phone, before sitting back down on the floor.

 

After one ring, Lee picks up.

  
“Did it--”

 

“Yeah. And I fell over and cracked my head. I’m alright… there’s OJ everywhere though,” she laughs, regretting it instantly.

 

“Loser. I’ll be right over.”

 

She doesn’t move, bar getting some peas from the freezer to hold against the back of her head, eyeing the envelope nervously.

 

She’d applied for scholarships for women’s soccer and in their theatre program. God, if she doesn’t get them she has no idea how the hell she’s going to pay off her loans.

 

*

 

Lee arrives in under ten minutes, which is beyond impressive, and finds her still on the floor, the OJ getting sticky around her. He just grabs the envelope and sits down next to her.

 

“Opening?” he asks. She nods, squeezing her eyes shut.

 

She hears him rip the paper and start reading.

 

“Dear Ms. Evans… I am delighted to inform you that the Committee of Admissions and Financial Aid has voted to offer you a place in the Harvard Class of 2022.”

 

It kind of feels like the whole world stops, just for a second.

 

Like she falls out of step, for a breath, for a blink of an eye.

 

Lee’s still talking, but Elle’s just… there.

 

She got into Harvard.

 

What the fuck.

 

“Elle?” she hears Lee say. She turns to look at him-- he’s hesitant, smiling softly, but unsure.

 

“Lots of inner turmoil,” she whispers, not sure how else to put it. Lee nods, putting the letter down and slinging an arm around her.

 

She got into Harvard.

 

*

 

“Hey, Noah?”


End file.
